The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 21, Ed. 1, Friday, February 29, 1980 Page: 2 of 23
twenty three pages : illus. ; page 11 x 8 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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A call to alms
The Spring Break Campaign leaders should
not have to appeal to outsiders for the money
still lacking which at this point is about one-
fourth of the total costs. The students faculty
and staff should help meet those needs.
Because the campaign is planned and
organized by ACU students it is only right
that the ACU family come to the aid. of the
participants who find themselves hard-
pressed for money.
And they are pressed.
Total cost of this year's campaign is $28000.
That's about eight times as much as the
previous Spring Break Campaign according
to Danny Beasley junior senator who has
worked closely with the campaign.
Part of the reason for the increase is that in
addition to sending a group to the usual St.
Louis campaign site a second group will be
sent to Boston.
Add to that the rising cost of travel with
gasoline prices up 50 percent from a year ago.
And as if rising costs weren't enough of a
financial burden the campaign also found
itself with less money from Sing Song
proceeds than it had anticipated.
In past years $4000 to $5000 of Sing Song
funds went to the campaign but this year only
$2500 was donated.
Of the $28000 about $13000 is raised by the
campaigners themselves through appeals to
family friends and home congregations.
The difference is covered by donations from
congregations individuals organizations and
SingSong.
But with the departure date less than two
weeks away about $5000 to. $7000 of the
needed money has yet to be raised.
Proceeds from the k all-night basketball
game being played 'today will go to the
campaign and coordinators hope that will
cover the costs. t
Chances are though" that it won't be
enough.'
Although it's too late to pledge support for
the players you still can give to one of the
worthiest causes on campus by contacting
John Tyson campaign coordinator.
These fellow students are not asking for
money to fly to Boston for a vacation. They're
using their week to do the Lord's work.
Are we going to let them down?
kQd Optimist
Cindy Stocking
EDITOR
Maggie Nelson
FEATURES EDITOR
KentBarnett
ADVERTISING
A. Blake McAdams
PRODUCTION
Sherilyn Greer
CARTOONIST
Debbie Archer
MANAGING EDITOR
David Wallace
SPORTS EDITOR
Deric Williams
PHOTOGRAPHER
Robin Simon
AD PRODUCTION
Rolando Diaz
CARTOONIST
FMVlPwtSv
Ms. J A I
Dr. Charlie Marler
FACULTY ADVISER
Laurie Lee: Women's Sports Editor
Yvette Moore: Forum Editor
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To impress the teachers
it's not how much you write;
it's how BIG the words are.
Fountain frustration
Spring weather seems to be here to stay and
more students are spending time in the
Campus Center mall area to enjoy the sun-
shine. The beauty of the spring can be
destroyed however by a glance at the GATA
fountain which lately has acquired an un-
sightly layer of algae.
We'd like to encourage the cleanup and
maintenance of the fountain by the women of
GATA and the student body.
The fountain which suffers from abuse by
students and neglect in maintenance was
donated by the women of GATA social club in
1970. This year GATA established the Annette
Freeman Bailey Fund in honor of ACU's 75th
anniversary to provide'for the maintenance
and rennovation of the fountain.
The goal for the endowment fund was $7500.
As of Thursday the goal had been exceeded by
$50. The funds have been donated by past and
present GATA members.
A GATA officer says a monthly pool service
has been contracted to maintain and clean the
fountain. The funds also will be used for new
lights and possibly the rebuilding of the
fountain walls. The maintenance service is to
begin when good weather becomes consistent
a club spokesman said.
We hope that service will begin very soon in
order to solve the unpleasant sight and odor of
the fountain in it's present state. And as that
service starts we encourage students to take
a mature and responsible view toward helping
the women of GATA with their goal in campus
beautification.
Letters to the editor should be no more than 250 words
long and should be typed or written legibly. The writer
muit include hi name address and phone number for
verification but only the name will be published. Letters
must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday of the week of
publication. Occasionally letters will be held because of
space limitations. The Optimist reserves the right to edit
or reject contributions and to limit frequent writers.
Letters should be addressed to The Optimist ACU Box
KM or left In the office Room m In the Don H. Morris
Center. r
j ''
A Quality Education
By CINDY STOCKING
Optimist Editor
In a time when we are faced with
steadily increasing prices for most of our
goods and services few of us probably
stop to think about the inflation going on
in our educational system beyond the
regular hikes in
tuition that is.
The trend over the
years has been to
make our higher
education system
more available to the
masses. In order to do
that successfully it
seems that we have found it necessary to
lower our standards and thus our
educational quality.
The question we are faced with is
whether a lowering of educational quality
is the inevitable price of a higher
education system for the masses?
Although some of our universities and
colleges have maintained strict
academic standards the overall pattern
seems to be in the opposite direction. And
now with threats of decreasing
enrollments the temptation could
become strong to lower standards more.
A lowering of standards leads to a
cheapening of the degrees that are
awarded. The degrees no longer mean as
much.
And if educational degrees are going to
lose their value perhaps people will
begin to seriously question whether it is
worthwhile to invest the time and money
to get such a degree.
The problem on the other side of this
issue however is whether we can afford
to have such high standards at all of our
educational institutions that only an
"elite" group of people will be able to
enjoy educational benefits.
This would not only lead to the downfall
of a majority of our universities but also
to a polarization of the nation's class
system higher youth unemployment and
I think a general feeling of restlessness.
Easy answers to this problem ob-
viously do not exist. Some of the "ex-
perts" in the educational field believe the
problem could be at least partially solved
by cooperation among all levels of
educational institutions in elevating the
standards of schooling.
Included in this plan would be a
number of accrediting bodies that would
evaluate the educational institutions
In addition to this each institution
would need to establish a "committee on
academic quality" made up of faculty
members admissions officers and such
people who would regularly examine all
parts of the institution's curriculum and
services making recommendations for
improvement of academic standards.
Clearly this would not be an easy task
to accomplish but if we continue to
contend that high standards are essential
to the well-being of this country's
academic life it is imperative that we
begin to study and analyze this situation
now.
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 21, Ed. 1, Friday, February 29, 1980, newspaper, February 29, 1980; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91990/m1/2/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.